Hello My Name Is...
Travis Leap
I am the elementary general music and choral teacher at Claysburg-Kimmel Elementary School.
Why Music?
- Children who study music tend to have larger vocabularies and more
advanced reading skills than their peers who do not participate in music
lessons.
- Studying music primes the brain to comprehend speech in a noisy background.
- Children with learning disabilities or dyslexia who tend to lose focus with more noise could benefit greatly from music lessons.
- Research shows that music is to the brain as physical exercise is to
the human body. Music tones the brain for auditory fitness and allows
it to decipher between tone and pitch.
- Children who study a musical instrument are more likely to excel in
all of their studies, work better in teams, have enhanced critical
thinking skills, stay in school, and pursue further education.
- In the past, secondary students who participated in a music group at
school reported the lowest lifetime and current use of all substances
(tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs).
- Schools with music programs have an estimated 90.2 percent
graduation rate and 93.9 percent attendance rate compared to schools
without music education who average 72.9 percent graduation and 84.9
percent attendance.
- Regardless of socioeconomic status or school district, students who
participate in high-quality music programs score 22 percent better on
English and 20 percent better on Math standardized exams.
- Much like expert technical skills, mastery in arts and humanities is closely correlated to high earnings.
- A study from Columbia University revealed that students who study
arts are more cooperative with their teachers and peers, have higher
levels self-confidence, and are more equipped to express themselves and
their ideas.
- Elementary age children who are involved in music lessons show
greater brain development and memory improvement within a year than
children who receive no musical training.
- Learning and mastering a musical instrument improves the way the
brain breaks down and understands human language, making music students
more apt to pick up a second language.
Source: dosomething.org/tipsandtools/11-facts-about-music-education